Solidwool to provide seating at the upcoming wastED pop-up at Selfridges

Selfridges London, will partner with Dan Barber and the team behind New York's internationally acclaimed Blue Hill restaurants to bring their ground-breaking food waste pop-up, wastED, to London for the first time.

Opening on the 24th February, they are taking up residence on Selfridge London's iconic rooftop for a month long pop-up.

The aim is to celebrate what chefs do every day on their menus (and traditional food cultures have done for thousands of years): creating something delicious out of the ignored or un-coveted and encouraging new applications for what we now all too commonly refer to as food waste.

The menu will feature ingredients such as cabbage cores, cover-crop sprouts and waste-fed pigs and offer reinterpretations of a few iconic British dishes.

For those booking the private dining area, they will be able to enjoy their meal seated on our finest Hembury Chairs made with under valued 'waste' Herdwick wool. 

The restaurant will be open for lunch, dinner and afternoon tea. The menu will feature small plates to share, all price at £15. The not-so-customary afternoon tea will begin at £32.

When: 24th February - 2nd April

More information can be found at www.wastEDlondon.com.

A landmark moment.

Ring the bell.

This week, we shipped Hembury Chair number 100.

It’s currently on it’s way across the Atlantic to a lucky owner called Amy.

It’s a landmark moment for us.

A century of chairs.

One hundred seats for one hundred bottoms.

Each of these chairs is unique and made with an undervalued wool from the Lake District. The wool of the iconic Herdwick sheep.

It’s taken us just over a year to sell 100 chairs. And boy, have we learnt a lot during that time.

.............

As makers, the objects we create embody our ideas and beliefs. Our products capture a moment in time.

For us, the Hembury Chair was our way of showcasing Solidwool. It gave the material a voice, a way of telling our story and the hope we had for the material.

It’s hard to say how many we will make of this first chair, but it’s almost certain that by this time next year the mould, and the design as it stands today, will no longer be in service.

In order to keep moving forward, we want to develop the material and our manufacturing processes. We want to build a small, empowered team of makers at the Solidwool factory. This will require a step up in production capabilities all round.

Our goal is to create a 100% natural wool composite. And by doing this, bring you the story of other wool's that are undervalued. To continue creating products which inspire and are made to cherish.

Your dreams should scare you after all.

What this means though is that one day we’ll be able to look back on this first Solidwool chair and know that only a few hundred people were lucky enough to own one.

Craft is the new luxury.

So if you want to get yourself a piece of Solidwool history, then you had better be quick.

---

"A chair is the first thing you need when you don't really need anything"

- Ralph Caplan, American Design Critic

---

SHOP | The Hembury Chair

Inspiration: Jean Prouvé

About 9 years ago we were at the Design Museum in London. We saw there was an exhibition about a designer called Jean Prouvé and so thought we’d take a look.

Prouvé was a French metal worker. A self-taught architect and designer. He used design and innovation to take industrial manufacturing processes into new areas. He was key in introducing a more industrial construction and aesthetic to the interior world.

Design to him was not a novelty. He felt you could not call yourself a designer unless you knew how to make the things you drew. He had his own workshop and later his own factory.

It was this exhibition and Prouvé’s blending of materials, manufacturing processes and production, all design led, that really inspired us and set us on a pathway to creating Solidwool.

On the left, a Solidwool dozen. On the right, a Jean Prouvé Cite lounge chair. 

This month British Design Critic and writer for the International New York Times, Alice Rawsthorn posted a series of 7 posts on her Instagram feed, talking about Jean Prouvé. Each of the posts and a link to the stories are below:

1. Describing himself as “an anarchist in a good way”, Prouvé was passionately committed to the modernist ideal of using design and industrialisation to improve the lives of the masses. More...

2. After leaving school school at the age of 15, Jean Prouvé was apprenticed for five years to Parisian metalworkers, first Emile Robert, then Szabo. More...

3. When World War II began, Jean Prouvé’s workshop switched to military production by designing prefabricated barracks for the French army. More...

4. Designer, architect, artisan, engineer, manufacturer, entrepreneur. Jean Prouve fulfilled all of those roles, but preferred to describe himself as a "factory worker". More...

5. Losing his beloved factory in Maxéville was a dreadful blow for Jean Prouvé. His family tried to distract him with a new project to design and build a house where he would live. More...

6. Like his father Victor, who co-founded the École de Nancy group of artists, designers and makers, Jean Prouvé forged firm friendships with his peers and fellow modernist pioneers. More...

7. There can be no doubt about Jean Prouvé's objectives for his work. Throughout his life he strove to fulfil his father Victor's dream of deploying "industrial production for the widest possible public". More...

---

Follow Alice Rawsthorn and her daily dairy on design on Instagram @alice.rawsthorn.

“If people understand, there’s no need to explain. If they don’t, there’s no use explaining.”

— Jean Prouvé

Case Study: Solidwool Tables at Brewdog Soho

You've no doubt heard of Brewdog. Bored of industrially brewed lagers and stuffy ales dominating the UK market (their words), the founders of Brewdog James and Martin thought they'd give it a go themselves.

They started in April 2007 selling beer from a market stall and have been on a crazy and fast growing ride ever since then.

They've successfully crowdfunded for equity a number of times. They call it 'Equity for Punk's' and now have the backing of over 14,500 investors made up of their customers. These are people that love craft beer and are the heart and soul of the business.

Brewdog Soho opened late 2015 and was designed by interior design studio, Blacksheep. They approached us to see if we could supply flat sheet Solidwool for use as a surface material for some of the tables.

We could and so we supplied them with 3 sheets of 1220mm x 610mm and 3 rounds of 600mm diameter. All topped with a protective lacquer coating.

Their contractors then fitted the Solidwool to a wooden ply substrate, added some legs and finished the tables with a metal trim.

If you're in the area, then take a look. We'd love to see your photos #brewdogsosolidwool.

Makers & Creators | Foldability

Foldability is a design studio specialising in creative projects inspired by origami and geometry, run by Kyla McCallum.

We met Kyla just over two years ago, exhibiting alongside her as part of the Designersblock show during Milan Design Week 2014.

Her folded, origami creations are a thing to behold. 

After spending a week admiring her geometric lampshades, there was no chance we would not come back with one of her creations.

Her designs are visually unique, always with an underlying element of folding. 

The designs are created, primarily by hand, from her studio in East London. Projects include set design, window displays, interior projects, graphic design and packaging.

As well as product collections and commissions, Kyla collaborates with brands. Most recently with Elle Decoration for an origami inspired cover and H&M creating over 2,000 hand folded flowers for a display in their flagship London store. 

A cascading avalanche of hand-folded flowers for Elle Decoration's December 2015 issue.

Kyla has been named "London's new Queen of Origami" by one interiors writer.

Origami Lampshade - Leah Pendant. £495

Read and see more at www.foldability.co.uk.

All photos © Foldability.